Dance of Destiny
by assassinkarena
Summary: Four shinobi from the Land of Snow arrive in Knonoha with one thing in mind, to show everyone who they are.
1. Chapter 1: First Sight

Chapter 1 - First sight

"It's so warm here," my comrade said beside me. She shed another layer of clothing before she stripped down to nothing but her underwear and shoes. Her cloak was in her arms and with her free hand she twirled a strand of hair that was on the side of her face. "Tell me again why we're going here, sensei."

Our sensei, Fubuki, turned to her question. "We're supposed to represent the snow country. Try to remember, we're here under the Feudal Lords command. She wants us to prove that the Snow Country is no joke. If we fail, we might as well give our country to the Fire country." She looked at Shimo and noticed her shocked expression. "But no pressure!" she added.

I sighed and looked ahead; there was a rather tall building that was in the middle of the town with the kanji symbol for "fire". That must have be where we were heading to. I looked over at our sensei and gave her a questioning look. She nodded silently and I smiled only lightly.

"Fubuki-sensei, do you think that we will become…_acquaintances _with some of the ninja—people here?" the male asked, he stood next to me. I looked over at him and he glanced at me only slightly catching my gaze until he stared back at our teacher.

"I wouldn't count on it Hyoga, we're not here to become friendly with the people of Konoha, we're here to prove how strong we are." Fubuki looked over, her mid-back silver hair shined as it moved in the air. "Isn't that right, Kori?"

I nodded my head once again, putting on more of a smirk than anything. "That's right. We're not pathetic as they think, right Hyoga?" I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him.

He nodded his head in approval, his face of course not showing any emotion but I could still tell that he was as excited as I was.

"Right Shimo," I ask as I looked across our sensei to look at her.

She gives me a thumb up with a toothy smile, "Of course! Let's kick some ass!"

Instead of feeling enraged by her rueful language, Fubuki laughs and smiles just as toothy as Shimo did. "Alright, let's kick some ass!"

A ghost of a smile appeared on my lips as I stared ahead at the tall building which we were about to enter. I felt Hyoga's look on me and I took a glimpse at him. He only nodded once and then we began to enter into the Hokage's building.

****

Shimo was right; it was getting hot in here. I was so used to the snow that I came prepared to face a blizzard. What's the first rule of ninja again? Oh yeah, use your head. I looked at the Hokage, a woman who looked in her mid twenties, even though we all knew that she was in her early fifties. She had long blonde hair that was held back with two pigtails. Bangs framed her face and her hazel eyes were lined with heavy eyelashes. A purple diamond was on the top of her forehead and her lips were coated lightly with a tint of pink lip gloss.

"I presume that you are the team from the Snow country that have come here on the mission?" she asked as she laced her fingers together and laid her elbows on the table so that she could lean her head on her hands. Her eyebrows were lightly furrowed.

"Yes, thank you Lady Tsunade for letting us prove our strength here. We're not to be taken lightly." Fubuki said as she crossed her arms.

"We never said that you were weak." Tsunade shot back in counter.

"We never said you _spoke_ it." Fubuki shot back smartly.

Fubuki was already getting off to a rough start and I could already tell the tension that was beginning to rise in the room. A woman at a young age of her mid twenties or thirties was beside Tsunade's desk holding a pig. The pig coward into the woman's hands, poor pig already knew that something was happening.

"Anyways, our Feudal Lord never spoke of what exactly what our mission was. She wanted to keep it…_private_ as to say." Fubuki said, shrugging off—or totally oblivious—the little encounter that she just had with one of the most powerful human beings on earth.

"Yes, we received the hawk with the letter in it. I got the information in it and I know exactly how you will be able to help us." Tsunade said also shrugging off the incident. Her eyebrows furrowed deeper, something was serious. "There's been an incident where one of the ninja of our village has run off to join a powerful enemy, Orochimaru. I'm sure that you've heard of him…all of you."

The woman was passing out a paper to each of us. When I received mine and looked at the male's picture. A young male of maybe thirteen, one year younger than me, with black hair and in the right light looked navy blue. His coal black eyes could pierce into anyone's soul and hold them into a deadlock of fear and when I saw the picture next to him; his eyes were a dark red, an intricate design of three commas and a black center. I was fascinated. I have never seen anything like this before, something so beautiful and tempting, yet at the same time devastating and frightening. I could tell that this single person was already strong just by the look of him.

"The male you see there is Uchiha Sasuke. He was a Genin, going to be Chunin, with a powerful kekkeigenkai that Orochimaru has been wanting for a while. If Orochimaru obtains this kekkeigenkai, then he will be able to learn any other ability faster by tenfold."

Our heads all perked up at this.

"We want you four to help us find him and bring him back. We must capture him at all costs; if not…we might be faced with something that we might never be able to escape." Tsunade says as she picks up a few pieces of paper and then straightens them out. "We will need all the help that we can get, and you're a team that has been sent to us by fate. I believe that you can help us bring him back."

"We will help, you have our word. We will show you how strong we are." Fubuki says as she puts a hand on my shoulder. "I should introduce you to these fine young kids."

She nudges her elbow into Shimo, "This is Megami Shimo." She nudges mine, "and Megami Kori. They're twins. And the kid next to Kori is my son Ryo Hyoga. And of course," she points to herself, "Ryo Fubuki."

Tsunade eyes us all carefully, "People from the snow must love the color white for hair. It's very beautiful."

We all looked at each other; sure every one of us had silvery white hair and we were all proud of it. Most people mistook us for siblings and Fubuki was the mother…can you saw awkward?

"You also have interesting names, very unique and once again beautiful. I've never met people who have had such a gorgeous aura around them. Kori, your name means 'Ice Goddess' does it not? And Shimo means 'Frost Goddess', Hyoga, 'Glacier Dragon' and Fubuki 'Snowstorm Dragon'. That's so interesting."

"We try to hold up the snow's tradition of having names that match our countries surroundings. It adds more depth into our life styles and gives us something to live up to. Having a name like ours means that you're very strong, we have to uphold it or else we get it taken away from us and then we get a new name. It's very dishonoring to our families." I explained.

"Wow, it sounds a little harsh." Tsunade said with a surprised expression.

"It keeps us on our toes." Shimo said as she crossed her arms and smiled.

"I suppose it would…" Tsunade says as she looked over at the woman beside her. She whispered something in her ear and the woman started heading for the door, she exited without a word. "That's Shizune by the way. You might see her at some points, random times but it doesn't exactly matter. Anyways, first things first," She stood up and handed us some papers. "We need to get you a place to stay at. Since being a ninja, I would recommend staying at another resident somewhere in the village. I'm sure that they will welcome you with open arms when they read that letter. It's better than staying in a hotel cooped up together. In a resident you'll at least be able to roam around."

"Wouldn't that be a little rude?" I asked, not entirely sure if this was the right thing to do. Just to invade someone's house and say, "Oh yeah, I'm staying here whether you like it or not." It just didn't seem right…

"Don't worry, if you pick the right one, you might just get lucky. I might suggest the Hyuga residence. They're another ninja family that is helping us look for Sasuke. You might find that they come in handy sometimes." Tsunade says as she hands Fubuki something. Fubuki looks at it and nods her head and smiles.

"We'll look into it. Thank you Lady Tsunade." Fubuki said as she motioned us to go out. We all obeyed her instructions of course, but we couldn't help but wondering what was on Fubuki's mind. It was scary when she was acting friendly to someone that she just met…

****

"I swear I'll kill her!"

Fubuki threw a brand new vase that she had just bought for "no apparent reason" across the room and watched it shatter. She yelled out in rage and stomped her way across the room until she got the broken pieces and then stepped on them again.

"Sensei, you're going to hurt yourself…" Hyoga said calmly as he quietly sipped his tea. He closed his eyes and took another sip.

No later than he said it did Fubuki stomp her foot onto a piece of the shattered pottery.

"Told you so Kaa-san…" Hyoga whispered quietly. He sipped again.

I shook my head and looked out into the distance, looking at how closely the houses were together and how people would sometimes just jump from house to house onto of the roofs. People were so carefree here. I was somehow…_envious_ of them I believe? I was never envious before in my life. Why was I now? It was a place that we had just come to; what if there were consequences for things like this?

I quickly shed my cloak and walked over to the door.

"Hey Kori, where ya going," Shimo asked as she did a back bend and then stood up again.

"Eh, I don't really know. I guess for a little walk I guess. It couldn't hurt to take a look around." I answered her as I looked at the papers that were on the desk that Fubuki had left out. I carefully picked it up and looked at it and memorized the village as quickly as I could. I specifically looked for the "Hyuga" residence that Tsunade was talking about.

"Hey, I'll go with you." Hyoga's monotone voice said as he shed his cloak and started to follow me.

I only nodded my head in agreement and allowed him to follow me.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Shimo asked before we left.

"Shimo," Fubuki suddenly yelled. Another vase was thrown out the window.

Hyoga and I quickly ran out to see the damage. The vase broke through the glass and it quickly started dropping. I looked below and saw that a male was right underneath it. It was going to hit him.

"Hey, look out!" I called out.

The most amazing thing I ever saw happened. The male whipped around and when the vase was about to hit him, he touch it with two fingers and it shattered into a hundred pieces. I stared in awe, it was amazing. Utterly amazing. How did he know how to pinpoint the exact location of the vase's weak spot?

I saw his eyes, clear white lilac pools that held such strength in them that I couldn't stop staring, so beautiful but strong, a perfect combination. Long, brown hair was pulled back into a tie at the bottom and a black hitaiate was tied around his forehead. His eyes didn't look that serious, but they held a certain secret. He had a frown on his face, he said something quickly but I didn't hear it. He looked up and his gaze didn't change, his face still held the same semi-angry expression.

"Fubuki-sensei, you needn't get so angry!" Hyoga and I heard. We turned our heads and saw Shimo trying to calm Fubuki down. "You could've hurt someone!"

_Yeah…you could have…but…didn't_ I think as I look back down at the male that she almost hit. Someone jumped and landed in front of me and Hyoga before I could see the male again. We stared at him. A rather large male who looked like a walking green bean with the bushiest eyebrows anyone could ever imagine stood in front of us. Hyoga stepped in between me and the man, his eyebrows furrowed downward and a slight frown on his face – his normal face.

"Do you know the person who tried to hit my student?" He asked straightforwardly. He had a toothy grin, that was oddly disturbing, and he put his hands on his hips. I could only think of one thing – is this guy gay?

"What if we do?" Hyoga asked as he put his hand on my wrist and pulled me closer to him. I looked up at the male and glared daggers. I could see the male look at me and Hyoga got in the way of his gaze. "Why are you here? He apparently didn't get hurt. It shouldn't matter."

"It matters because we know that the vase was-

"Enough." I interrupted. I stepped from behind Hyoga and male and pushed Hyoga towards the door. He looked at me and I motioned him to go inside. I closed the door behind him and I looked at the man. "We're sorry. Our sensei has a little temper."

"A _little_? Are you kidding? I think your sensei-

"I suggest you leave. I apologized and that's all that's needed. Tell your student that we're sorry as well." I turned and quickly went inside. I didn't want to have to deal with a judgmental human at the moment.

I shut the door in his face even though he started to protest. I leaned back up against the door and looked at Fubuki, she was starting to calm down, and Shimo had gotten her some tea. She drank quietly and crossed her legs in the chair she was sitting in. Hard to believe she could look so calm after going on a rampage. When I looked at the room and her in it…it didn't fit. The room was absolutely destroyed and yet she was so calm. How did she do it?

"Do you want some tea Kori," she asked as she held out a cup. She carefully poured some tea in it and held it out to me. I sighed and took it without argument.

"So where did you want to visit first," Fubuki asked as she sipped.

I shrugged my shoulders, lying. I wanted to find out who the boy was—the one with the most inexplicable eyes. I just couldn't that boy out of my mind. I wanted to know who he was. I wanted to find out what that secret was.

"Well, I think that we should go and see that residence, you know—the Hyuga's." Shimo said as she gulped down her tea quickly, asking for more.

Fubuki happily poured it, "I think that that's a splendid idea!"

"For some reason," Hyoga said as he closed his eyes and sipped, "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Oh don't bring down the moment Hyoga," Fubuki snapped quickly before he could say anything a little bit more morbid. "This is a happy occasion!"

"What occasion?" I said monotonously.

"Ah-

Fubuki couldn't say anything. She glared at me—playfully—and set her cup down and crossed her arms, "Well, who's side are you on? Our side or Hyoga's side?"

"I don't have a side."

Shimo stuck her tongue out at me and pulled down her the skin under her eye. "Neh, well don't be a party pooper when we get there alright? I hate it when you're so…_gloomy_. It's depressing."

"It's her choice to make if she wants to be depressed around people." Hyoga mumbled under his hand as he leaned on his arm and rested his head in his palm. "You shouldn't tell her otherwise."

"Oh boo-who," Shimo snapped. She turned to Fubuki, "Can we go yet? I'm excited; I want to see where we're going to be living!"

"Hey, it's not nice to just invite yourself into someone's house." I said quietly as she stood up with Fubuki.

"Booo, well we're going. Come if you want." Shimo said as she and Fubuki grabbed their cloaks and tossed them over their arms.

I looked over at Hyoga and he sighed. Was he disappointed to have a team member that's my sister and a teacher that's his mother? I couldn't tell. He was always so mysterious, so quiet. He kept to himself most of the time and he had a rather sad aura around him. I had to keep myself back from hugging him. Something happened in his life before that he didn't normally like to talk about and I didn't like to press it against him at anytime.

"Come on Kori, let's get going." Hyoga sighed as he got his cloak and mine.

He handed it off as we both started walking to the door. He only looked at me as I took it from him. We stood standing there for a few seconds before he walked out the door and left me. I looked at the room—trashed, I felt bad about it. But there was nothing I could really do about it. I wouldn't know where my friends went if I stayed behind. Besides—

"Kori, come on!" Shimo called out from below. She waved at me to come down.

—They were calling for me.


	2. Chapter 2: Neji

Chapter 2 - Neji

I looked up to a large white gate that stood between me and the Hyuga's residence. I could already tell that it was one of the largest residences in the all of Konoha. It had the Leaf village's symbol on the doors and green luscious plants grew around it. Another thing I could tell—these people were strong.

Normally, in Snow, the strongest clans had the biggest residences. Surely the concept must have been the same here as it was at our home. There wasn't a reason to give a week clan a huge residence was there? I shook my head mentally. Shimo interrupted my train of thought.

"So, when do we get to go inside," she asked as she looked over Fubuki's shoulder to see the paper that she had in her hands.

"Well, anytime I suppose. Kori," she said sweetly—I could feel trouble, "Do you think that you can go inside and see if it's okay if we're aloud in? Please?"

"Isn't that your job," Hyoga asked quickly.

She looked caught; she shook her head fiercely and crossed her arms, "It's my duty to give you kids the orders."

"Sure," he muttered. He crossed his arms and looked away.

I wondered how Hyoga and Fubuki were even related. They were complete opposites. Hyoga was quite and usually kept to himself. And Fubuki was a carefree spirit who was loud and obnoxious. He must have gotten his personality from his father—

I stopped thinking as I was pushed over to the gate more and a paper was shoved in my hands.

"Go kill 'em," Shimo exclaimed as she opened the gate doors and pushed me in.

"Shimo, that's not right," Hyoga exclaimed as she shut the door behind me.

I heard another muffled tone, but that was it. Everything around began to become even more quiet. Soon enough, everything was absolutely quiet. I cautiously stepped forward. I looked back and forth very quickly before I looked ahead again. I felt someone watching me. It was that uncomfortable feeling of eyes upon me through my blind spot that I hated. I looked around and tried to get the feeling of eyes upon me and tried to concentrate on something else. I noticed the scenery around here. It was here that I began to calm down. The moment I walked in, there was an area for training. There was just one thing—there were no dummies. Nothing to practice on. But then how did they practice?

I tried to interoperate what I saw. From the enclosed area, I could guess that they were close range fighters, and from the lack of practice material they used something other than physical weapons for their fighting style. Hyuga…I felt like I heard the name before. I knew at least that it was a famous clan that was about it. But I didn't know anything else about them. I looked right and then left. Two directions, which way should I go? I breathed in slowly and let it out and then choose left. What harm could it do?

As I was walking through the hallway, I could sense something strong approaching. This way no ordinary person—it was definitely a ninja. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, but they were strong. I stopped and stood my ground as I heard footsteps coming around the corner. I clutched the paper in my hands and set a blank expression on my face.

I saw a foot and then a robe. A man dressed in white with long brown hair walked towards me. He had a frown on his face and I was already intimidated by the power that this man had. I could feel the power pushing towards me with great strength. He could kill me at any second he wanted to. I looked at his eyes, finding that it was one of the easiest ways to look into a person's inner self. But I stopped; those same eyes— clear white lilac. This man looked older than the male that I saw before but they had to be somehow related. He noticed that I was staring at his eyes and he quickly started speaking before I could stare for hours.

"Why are you here?"

I snapped out of my daze and held the paper out before me so he could look at it. He snatched it quickly and opened the half folded paper. He read quickly as I watched his eyes move back and forth. He mumbled something to himself and then he closed his eyes. He crossed his arms and then spoke sternly.

"Alright, I'll agree to these terms. Your team can stay here for a while. I must warn you," he paused and opened his eyes. They were terrifying, veins bulged around his eyes and I saw that his eyes had a new power to them. Like he could see into me, pinpoint where all my weaknesses are and take me down easily. "If this is some kind of trick by the Snow, we will not hesitate to kill you."

Alright, I was afraid. Terrified that I could die at any second now, and we would be living with these people? I should have just tied a noose around my neck and hung myself from being so afraid.

"Why do you keep staring at my eyes?"

My thoughts went astray as he asked the question. I shook my head and muttered a word of apology; he apparently didn't hear it or just ignored it because he repeated the question.

"I…it's just that I haven't seen anything like your eyes before. They're just so fascinating. I'm sorry," I said quickly as I bowed quickly, "I didn't realize that I was staring so much. I'm sorry again."

He brushed it off and turned around, "Bring your teammates in."

"Yes sir," I said as I quickly turned around and started for the door. As I walked towards the door I felt a ping of embarrassment. Was I really staring that much?

I opened the door and I felt a relief flow through Hyoga and felt arms wrap around my neck.

"Oh good you're alright! I told you it would be alright," Shimo exclaimed as she smiled happily and hugged me tighter. She kissed my cheek once and then bounded for the inside of the residence. She skipped slightly and looked both ways to view all of the scenery.

"That's my Kori," Fubuki said happily as she patted my shoulder and then walked inside as Shimo did.

I felt Hyoga's gaze on me and I turned to him. He stared and pursed his lips together, wanting to say words but couldn't find them. He closed his eyes and sighed instead, moving forward until he also went inside. I pursed my lips and then turned to go back in. I closed the doors behind me and sighed. A new home? I couldn't say that yet. Something haunted…maybe.

****

I walked around the Hyuga's residence, odd. For a place so big, I didn't see that many people. I walked around until I came into the training area. I looked around; no one was around so I decided that I might as well get some training done. I looked inside my cloak pockets until I found a small bottle. When I pulled it out, I noticed that it was half empty.

"I guess that I should make some more of this stuff…" I muttered as I stood up and threw my cloak over to the side.

I opened the bottle and tipped it only slightly until the liquid was beginning to seep out. I let only one drop fall and then a stood back and put the bottle away in my cloak and ran back. I watched as the beast started to form. The silvery liquid began forming the feet of the beast, a large paw. It went up and then started on the body, a feline. The tail began to swish back and forth and then the head began to appear. Once the silver hardened, the feline's color began to show through—a dark orange with black stripes.

It suddenly roared and I knew that it was fully created. It looked at me; yellow eyes with black slits in the middle looked me up and down, analyzing my body trying to figure out what my movement would be. I looked back up at it and I began to move to my right and the tiger did the same. We circled each other until we both pounced on each other. He tried to claw at me with its oversized claws, but I dodged it. I ran on its back until I reached the tail. It flipped me up and I took the chance to throw four kunai around the perimeter of the training area so the beast wouldn't be able to get out.

"Kekkai Hojin," I yelled as I made a few hand signs, "Barrier Encampment Method!" I quickly added a few signs so that it would make the barrier activate if anyone stepped out of it.

The tiger got the clue and it stepped away from the invisible barrier. I stared at it and it glared back at me. He started running at me again and I quickly jumped and landed on its back again. I did a few hand signs again and placed my hand on its back.

"Yukiton: Yukiryudan no Jutsu," I yelled as my hands started to become cold. I jumped in the air and put my hands together, "Snow release: Snow Dragon Missile!"

A huge roar was heard as my hands released a snow in the shape of a dragon and it crashed into the tiger. The tiger whimpered underneath the cold bite of the dragons tongue, and when my jutsu was over, it could barely stand. I stared at it and it still came running after me. I sighed and dodged its slow attack. But what I didn't expect was that he would come back so quickly. The tiger put its huge claws on my chest and pushed me down. He raised his paw and bared his fangs. He roared loudly and then his razor sharp claws came out. I tried to squirm from underneath his huge paw—which cover my entire upper body—and tried to get at least one hand out.

The claw came down and I wasn't able to get my hand free. I closed my eyes but I never heard the tearing of flesh, the spray of my blood. Nothing. I opened one eye and noticed the tiger had been pushed off me and was laying a few yards away unmoving. I was breathing hard from the lack of breath that I was receiving underneath its huge paw. I sat up and felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

I looked over and my eyes went straight to the eyes. Clear white lilac. I gasped and quickly tried to stand up. I wobbled slightly but I stood my ground. I shook my head to get rid of the dizzy feeling. I put a hand on my head and looked over at the male. Long brown hair pulled back into a tie at the end and a black hitaiate covered his forehead. He stood up and I got a closer look at what his face looked like. A perfectly angled nose and a sharp jaw line, his pale skin was not paler than mine of course but it was flawless. He wore a tan shirt and dark brown shorts. Bandages were wrapped on the right half of his body going from his fingertips to his feet. He was…indescribable.

I snapped out of my trance, remembering that I had been staring before. "I'm sorry," I said quickly before he snapped at me, "I'm very sorry."

I quickly went over to the tiger and noticed that it was barely breathing. Could this male have done that to it? I looked over my shoulder to glance at him only once. But I snapped my head back to the tiger and quickly did a few hand signs and then tapped the tiger's body. Instantly it became nothing but snow. I stood up and looked back at the male. His facial features were strong. He pursed his lips together and turned away.

"Just be careful next time," he said as he started to walk away.

The last bit of snow fell to the ground and I brushed some of it off my head. I quickly got my cloak and tossed it over my arm and I started running. I saw the male and I tried to catch up with him.

"Wait," I yelled. He stopped; he didn't turn, just stopped.

I ran in front of him and looked at him square in the eyes. Those beautiful eyes…

"Thank you."

He closed his eyes and sighed, but the frown returned to his face, "Just be careful."

He walked past me, I turned towards him. Some of my hair strands touched his face. It looked like he had stopped for only a second, but it was probably my eyes playing tricks on me. I just watched him walk down the hallway and disappear.

****

Every since that night, I've been distant with my teammates. I've barely talked in a week and I've been dreaming off constantly. I couldn't stop thinking about what that male, I still didn't even know his name, yet I couldn't stop thinking about him. I leaned my head against the window in my new room. It was raining today and I listened to the pitter patter of the rain swiftly tap against the window. I sighed and brought my knees up to my chest, holding them close. What would it be like? To feel rain? I decided to find out on my own.

I opened my window and silently slipped out. I kicked it closed lightly and then started to climb onto the roof. Instantly, it felt like I was in heaven. I felt every little tap against my skin from the water, and I enjoyed every one of them. It felt so liberating to feel it. Living in snow, we had never had rain. Only after our Feudal Lord, Kazahana Koyuki, had spring come. But still, never rain. I lifted my face to the dark sky and breathed in and let air flow through my lips again. My hair began to cling to my body but I didn't care. The bangs on my face stuck to my forehead and I carelessly wiped them away, only to feel the rain on my face. I slightly opened my eyes, dazed but happy. My light blue eyes looked to the heavens, I felt the water seep into the bottom of my clothes, that must have meant that the rest of my clothes were soaked as well. I felt the water drip down from my chin onto my chest and slid down and it was a funny feeling. It felt like a bug walking on my skin, but I just didn't want it to go away. It moved swiftly and silently until I couldn't feel it anymore. I moved my hands to the back of my neck and lifted my hair the back of my neck. I took one of my high pigtails and gently stroked my damp hair. I flicked my hair back and lifted my head again.

"Hey! What are you doing up here?! You could hurt yourself," someone yelled.

I turned quickly, going to look at the person but my foot slipped and I started to fall. I looked at the ground which was probably at least ten feet below. But it never came; a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around my shoulders. I kept my eyes closed, afraid to see who it would be.

"What are you doing out here," the person asked. I recognized the voice.

I opened my eyes to see that same male in front of me, beautiful eyes, beautiful face, everything about him was beautiful. I couldn't stop staring, not when he was so close to me.

"I—I'm sorry! I didn't realize—

"Come on, let's get you dried off. You're soaking wet," he said as he jumped down to the ground and landed with a soft tap. He started to walking around the hallways expertly, turning this way turning that way. Finally he stopped at a room and kicked the door open. I wasn't sure he realized it, but I was still in his arms. I looked over and noticed a few towels on a cabinet. He grabbed one without letting me fall and then placed it on my lap then walked out of the room.

He came to my room and then set me down. I held onto the towel with shame. I didn't want to look at him now. I felt pathetic.

"Are you going to answer me? Why were you up on the roof," he asked again sternly as he took the towel from me and rubbed my hair because I wasn't doing anything with it. He sighed and wrapped the towel around my shoulders. "Get changed, it seems you won't answer me. I'll wait outside your bedroom, hand your wet clothes to me when you're done." He closed the door and left me inside.

I sighed and turned around and untied the ribbons from my hair and let it fall. I took off my gold choker necklace and laid it on the table. I quickly stripped down and went into my bag and grabbed my pajamas and put them on. I picked up my wet clothes and folded then neatly, even though they would probably just get tossed into a corner and waited to be washed. I went to my door and opened up, my head down. I didn't dare look at him.

I quickly handed my clothes off to him and then turned to close the door. He stopped me by putting his hand on the door.

"What's your name," he asked.

I looked at him, a little surprised because I thought that he would ask me the same question with his stern voice. But it wasn't as stern as it was before. In fact, it was kind, like he wanted to be gentle with me, like he actually cared. I finally let myself look at him. I couldn't stop staring again.

"Megami Kori," I whispered quietly, it was late at night and I didn't want to be that loud.

"Hyuga Neji," he said gently, his eyes changed. All in a second his hostile aura was gone and a gentle one was replaced. He kindly smiled at me and nodded his head, "Kori."

He left then, walked away from me. Neji…I thought the name again and whispered it. It caressed my lips softly, it was perfect.

Three things I discovered today about myself. And I knew that they were all absolutely true. First, Neji had saved my life twice now. Second, he had a secret about him that I wanted to find out about. Third, I was absolutely, completely, and irrevocably in love with him.


	3. Chapter 3: Mission

Chapter 3 - Mission

Another week went by and I found myself becoming more distant with my friends. I kept away most of the time and took very long walks to think to myself, which was where I was at now.

I looked around the streets of Konoha and sighed, such a beautiful place. It was definitely different from the environment that I was used to, and the weather wasn't something that could be just ignored. It seemed as if I would bake soon enough if I didn't cool down. I just couldn't help it. Since I was so used to the freezing environment of my home, the normal weather here for the people of Konoha was like an oven to me. I crossed my arms and sighed as I tried to sort through the many things inside my mind.

I looked up and noticed a ramen bar, _Ichiraku…_ I thought as I walked over towards it. Maybe some food would help me calm my nerves. I pushed away the cloths that hung from the head border and instantly smelled the delicious smell of cooked noodles.

I stood by the entrance still for a moment before I heard someone say, "You gonna come and eat or what?"

I looked at the man, a middle aged man with an apron on and a pan in his hand. His eyes were squinted, but that probably was just from his age, and he had a white cap on his head. He must have been the main chef.

I nodded silently and walked over to a seat and turned until I was facing forward. I looked at him, he awaited my order.

"I'll just have a shrimp ramen," I say as I lean on my hand while my elbow rested on the table.

"Come on! You promised me!"

I looked over my shoulder as my ramen was set before me.

"Enjoy."

I nodded my head to him quickly before I saw a blonde male come running in with another man with glasses who frequently pushed up his glasses with his middle finger. The blonde one immediately took a seat next to me and looked at the middle aged man.

"Yo! One chicken ramen," he squinted his eyes and made a saluting hand gesture; the teacher I presumed took a seat next to him. He started explaining things to him that I couldn't catch onto, but I did notice the blonde's eating style. He kept shoving noodles into his mouth like he would die of starvation. I was utterly surprised that a human being could eat that much food and still stay so small. He was much shorter than I was, at least maybe an inch or two and had whisker lines on the side of his face.

He looked strange for a regular shinobi; I noticed the hitaiate on his forehead, and he didn't exactly fit in like a regular shinobi either. But this boy I could tell was someone different, someone good.

I stirred my food around in the bowl and ate here and there, eating didn't help at all. All I saw was my reflection in the broth, which made me think about my problems even more. What did my grandma say again...some type of wisdom that she explained to me...said it would help me sooner or later.

I wish that I'd pay attention to her a little more, but I couldn't help it if my but was worked off only seconds before she started telling me all of this wisdom. I think it was something about fate...destiny.

"Hey you."

I turned my head to the blonde that was sitting next to me; he squinted his eyes at me and leaned closer.

"Naruto that is no way to speak to a lady! Don't get in her face-

"Yeah, yeah," he interrupted.

He looked at me more until I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Either it was what I was thinking or it was the fact that I was falling out of my chair.

"Is there something that you need?" I asked, I didn't mean to be rude but I just couldn't have this kid looking at me all day long.

"Hmm..." he mumbled, he brought his finger tips to his head and scratched.

He snapped his fingers like he found the greatest solution to the hardest problem without any trouble at all, "You're not from here are you?"

That was it? Some genius I thought he was...

"No I'm not..."

He turned away from me for a second, "Hey chief! Another bowl!"

"Coming right up Naruto!"

Naruto, I thought of the name and inside I chuckled. It was the same name for the food on top of ramen, maybe that's why he liked it so much.

He turned back to me, "So uh, what'd 'er ya doing here?"

I blinked a few times, "Um…that's really none of your concern." I tried to answer politely.

He scoffed and started eating his ramen again, finishing it in seconds. "Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto," He flashed a toothy smile at me, "The next Hokage!"

I looked at him and his stance—he actually stood up and put his fist in the air. He was definitely brave, I gave him that. And I couldn't get over the fact that this boy was making me feel a little bit happier. His energy sent off a powerful vibe, not just in personality, but something else too.

I looked at my bowl of ramen, already full even though I barely ate. I looked over at Naruto and slid my bowl over to him. "Megami Kori."

He smiled again and started digging while mumbling, "Cool!" and something else but I didn't know what he said. I'll just say that he said "Nice to meet you."

I looked at him as he ate the ramen that I had in seconds. I was utterly amazed, I thought that it was a lot but he ate it in a flash and just patted his stomach.

"Mmm, that was good..." He looks over at his teacher, "Alright pay up teach!"

"That's completely absurd-

"Harem jutsu..." Naruto mutters quietly to him.

The teacher looks down and looks into his wallet and then counted the number of bowls Naruto had eaten. He practically has a hard attack at the sight. Two columns of at least ten bowls each towered over and his wallet made a silent sob. The chief and the daughter who appeared next to him smiled devilishly. I took that as my chance to leave as I left the amount on the table. As I slipped out of the bar I noticed a Jonin coming over to me while reading a book, but he quickly put it away as he looked up and saw me. He casually put his hands in his pockets and sighed.

"You must be Megami Kori." He says as he points at me.

I stared, a man with half of his face covered by a mask and his hitaiate over his left eye. I didn't really get why he covered so much of his face and I didn't want to question it. I thought it would be rude. His hair silver hair defied gravity. I could tell that the color wasn't from age, it was something natural. His hair was beautiful.

"Yes," I answered after I was done analyzing him, "Why?"

"The Hokage would like to see you; she wants to ask you something."

_Why would the Hokage want to ask me something? _I think as he turns around and starts walking to the Hokage's office. I was guessing that he was going to be my guide, even though I didn't really want one. Although, I didn't want to be rude and say he should just go away. _This man…he seems…familiar._

_Kori…it's been a long time hasn't it? Too long…_ the man thinks as he looks at me from the corner of his eye. He turns back and looks forward. _Too long…_

When the man and I arrive, I turn to him and thank him. His eye closes; I could tell that he was smiling underneath the mask.

"Of course!" he replies.

I start walking forward and he follows, maybe he was supposed to talk with the Hokage as well. I hoped that, it didn't feel right when I felt his gaze on me. It was like he was burning a hole through my head.

As we walk into the building and walk to the Hokage's office I turn to him.

"May I ask what your name is?" I ask.

He smiles at me again and knocks on the door, hearing the word of approval he opens the door and looks inside. He puts his hand in front of him for me to go first and answers, "Hatake Kakashi."

_Kakashi…that name sounds familiar _I think as I walk inside. I see my other teammates there already with Fubuki, they all had serious expressions on their faces. My defenses rise immediately and my hostile aura comes out.

"What's wrong?" I ask as I join the others in the line.

"We finally have your mission," Tsunade says as she crosses her arms across her chest.

"Great, what is it?" Fubuki asks.

"You're going to go back to the Snow with some of our ninja and show them how you train, act, sleep, drink, eat; anything to show us how you live. We need to see how strong you really are in your own area. I'm guessing that here it's very different for you and you're not used to being yourselves here. There, at the Snow, you will be able to show us how you fight, in your own terrain—your territory."

We all nod once.

"You will be taking teams of my choice with you. Most of these teams are Genin squads along with a teacher. Just like you are now, they will be the observers. This could help us in teaching the other ninja how to survive in different terrains and they might learn something new from your country. I've heard that it's different there than it is here, and not just the weather.

"I've already chosen the teams," Tsunade continues, "Team Kakashi, Team Asuma, and Team Guy. Each team has their strengths and weakness, but they will watch you and see how difficult it is to be somewhere their not used to. It gives them more of a challenge. I already know one of the students will be excited to go somewhere different and maybe learn a new jutsu or two."

She looks over at Kakashi, he smiles and nods.

"Anyways, you leave in about a month, it will give you enough time to get used to our terrain here and you will be able to report it to your Feudal Lord." She pauses, "All of you leave; Fubuki and Kakashi stay here. We need to talk about something important."

Shimo, Hyoga, and I were all a little confused but we obeyed. We bowed first before going out; it was a rule in the Snow. Fubuki looked at us and we knew where to go for us all to meet up.

I looked up at Kakashi before leaving; he looked at me before turning back to Tsunade. She was looking at us until we all left. She didn't start talking immediately because she knew that we were still there.

We all left and started running to our destination—the cliffs of Konoha, the top of the faces of the past Kage's.

****

"It's a shame that we have to go back home," Shimo says as she throws a rock down the faces. It rolls down until we can't see it anymore. "I was just beginning to get used to the weather here!" she makes a face. "It's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, but we all get over it sooner or later." Hyoga says monotonously, he twirls a kunai on his finger, occasionally grabbing it and then twirling it again, "Besides, I'm sick of this place, its way too hot."

"What?!" she exclaims as she stands up and points a finger at him, "You're just a wimp! It's a great place to tan anyways!"

Hyoga and I both look at her strangely, then we look at our skin—it was rather paper white, especially Hyoga's.

"And?" Hyoga and I both say.

She growls and puts her hands on her head, "You guys are so frustrating! Can't you just get used to it here! Besides, I get sea sick!"

"So that's the problem? You don't want to go back on a ship just because you're afraid?" Hyoga taunts, he didn't show it, but he was having fun.

"I am _not_ afraid of going on a ship! It's just that the motions of the waves make me feel all dizzy and I end up—

"Enough, we got our orders and we have to abide by them." I interrupted, "It's not like we can just change them just because of our fears. We have to move forward." I sighed and put my head on my knees.

They were both silent, I felt both of their gazes on my back as I stared forward into the huge village of Konoha. Maybe going home was best; it would get my mind off of Neji anyways. I would forget about him sooner or later.

Was I kidding myself? Of course I was; I knew that I couldn't rid my thoughts about him. Ninety percent of the time I was thinking about him and the other ten percent I was debating on how to come up with a new topic to think about him again. In the long span of my fourteen years of life, I have never felt this way with anyone. I've never felt so strongly about anyone and I don't think that I would feel this way about anyone ever again. I said like ten words to the guy he did the same with me, and I was already in love with him. But...

The way he spoke, so smooth and mysterious, the way his aura was around him, it was holding him back, he was so much like me. I wanted to help him, I wanted to cry to him about all the feelings that I've been hiding within myself for too long. I felt like I could tell him everything I knew and I know that he would keep it secret. He could tell me all of his, and I would never speak a word.

I could already tell that he hid something within himself that he told nobody. Not his parents, his siblings, I wasn't even sure if would even tell his loved one. He hid it with everything he had and he wouldn't give up on the wall that held everything back.

The ways his eyes looked, it was a like a door to another world. His emotions were set in stone in his eyes and it was always the look of being caged. He was trapped within something that he thought that he could never get out of.

Every little secret...I wanted to know about it. I wanted him to speak everything to me, hold me and whisper the things that he wishes to do; his dreams, his past, his present, his future. I wanted him to be able to express himself in any way possible and be perfectly comfortable about it.

I sighed; there I go again, thinking about Neji. Why couldn't I get him out of my mind!? It was so unbelievably frustrating! It was absurd to think of such things! He didn't feel the same way about me as I did him. Why go on dreaming about it, let alone think about it...

"Kori."

I turned to the person who called my name, Hyoga.

"They're here," he says as he puts out his hand for me.

I grab it and mutter a thank you and look at the teams that would be joining us on our mission to the Snow. I looked around and I nodded my approval at the sight of them. They didn't look like weaklings. My eyes were directed directly to the color orange, Naruto. He was coming too. I wished to smile, but I didn't. I didn't want my mixed feelings for any of these people to show through. Kakashi was there, talking to Naruto about staying calm. But he was too jumpy and he was talking to a female with pink hair and emerald green eyes. She didn't look like she really cared about him, but I could definitely tell that she was excited to go. I guessed that that was Team Kakashi.

I looked at another team, the teacher smoked. That was the first thing I noticed. A girl with short blonde hair was elatedly speaking with her teammates. Instead of her not caring, it was one of the boys who weren't caring. He was looking upward towards the sky and I noticed that he said a quick prayer of safety. A rather large boy who had chips in his hand kept munching and commented on the girls comments. She kept talking, and I felt like we weren't going to get along already.

I looked over at the last group. My eyes stopped and stared, I didn't even bother looking at the rest of the teammates. The one person who I was hoping not to come was coming. But at the same time, I knew that in my heart that I was absolutely ecstatic about him coming. Neji was coming with us...with me.


	4. Chapter 4: Fight

Chapter 4 - Fight

I couldn't help but stare into those clear, lilac eyes. I could stare into the next forever if I wanted to. Right now I did, but I knew that I couldn't, I would probably get into trouble…again.

"Alright, so these are the teams that we're going to be traveling with to the Snow?" Fubuki asked as she walked across all the teams like she was leading an army. She was examining them. She stops in front of Kakashi.

"Hmm, you're coming to aren't you?"

"What, you have a reason that I shouldn't?" Kakashi asked cheerfully as his eye pinches into an upward curve.

She growls at him, "I have a lot of reasons..."

She glares at him while he keeps smiling at her _I'm gonna kill him…_

Hyoga and I both knew what she was thinking. We both looked at each other and sighed. Shimo looked at us; she knew that we knew what the other was thinking. She pouted.

"Hey! I wanna know!" she yelled, she knew when I knew something was up.

I ignored her and looked at Fubuki again. I made that as an excuse to look at Neji again because she was standing in front of the walking green bean. She was practically yelling at the man for wearing those ridiculous clothes. She kept saying that it was too thin; they would never survive in the Snow. They couldn't possibly, _they_ meaning there was another one that looked like walking green bean Jr.

Fubuki walked back towards us mumblings words of discouragement, "Those two men I swear…"

We couldn't hear the rest as she paced back and forth between us. She finally stopped and sighed. She turned back to the rest of the teams and started yelling at them, like she was actually in the army.

"Alright listen, when we're in the Snow we have a few rules that you _must_ abide to. If you don't," she started to explain, "You _will_ die."

Everyone was quiet; they didn't dare interrupt her when she continued speaking.

"First rule: you must never attack another shinobi from the Snow. There aren't many, but if you do you will be severely punished. In worst case scenario, you will be killed.

"Second rule: in the sight of any important member of the Snow, before you leave the room you must bow in their presence, if you don't you will show dishonor not only to them, but to yourself. No one in the Snow expects themselves to be higher than anyone, not even our Empress.

"Third rule: do not, I repeat, do _not_ go anywhere by yourself. You will get lost there, you won't be able to find your way back to anywhere and you will die. If shinobi attack you, you would have no choice but to fight back and in result being punished.

She crosses her arms and looks at the teams while the play what she just said back in their minds.

"Understood?" Fubuki asks; it was more of a demand to hear a respond from the rest of the people.

"Yes!" they all respond in unison.

"Alright then," she turns back to us and points at the three of us. "When you are in the presence of them, you must follow their rule, even you Jonin's. They know what they are doing, do not question them."

They all nod again.

She turns around fully and shows her back to them, "You are dismissed."

We looked as they suddenly disappeared.

I sighed out in relief, I could finally breathe naturally. I looked out at Konoha again, only a month left to stay here and then we would be leaving for our home again. The time here that I spent here wasn't enough, I wanted more. I know that it was selfish, but it just wasn't enough. It was beautiful here, a community of people that were warm to each other. Everywhere people knew the other was, and they could openly express their feelings. In Snow we couldn't do that, we had to abide by the ninja codes as laws. We could not break them.

Shimo would return to her cold self when we got back, Hyoga would remain the same; I would stay my hostile self with no emotion on my face, my language; my eyes. I would become the perfect ninja once again.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked at the person with my peripheral vision, Hyoga. He knew how to read my emotions easily. He knew something was wrong with me, at least he didn't know how to detect which emotion it was this time. I've never felt this way before. His eyes showed worry. He came next to me and looked down at Konoha with me.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered.

I kept staring down at Konoha but answered, "I'm not thinking about anything."

_Lies_

"Are you sure?"

_No_

"Yes."

"…"

We stayed in silence for a while before Shimo came bounding over towards us and wrapped her arms over each of our shoulders.

"So, what are we going to do now? Do you want to go back to the residence?" she asked her questions quickly.

We both had no choice as she dragged both of us back to where the residence was.

"Shimo, I'm sure that we're perfectly fine walking there ourselves." Hyoga says coldly, he was returning back to his…_normal_ nature.

She let go quickly and looked away, she kept walking forward after he said this. She suddenly disappeared after she walked ahead a few steps.

"Hyoga, I'm not sure if that was the most appropriate way of handling the situation," I say as I step to where Shimo was, I couldn't tell where she went but I wanted to know.

"…" He was quiet as he stepped towards my side again, he continued to be silent as he looked around for her presence, maybe she would still be somewhere around. He hoped.

"We probably should get back to the residence, she'll go there sooner or later," he turned to me and I looked at him, "Don't you think?"

I nodded and we both disappeared.

****

Shimo scoffed as she threw a kunai at the animal that was in front of her. Sweat dripped down her forehead as the animal charged at her, it's tusks almost hit her but she dodged and then jumped on the animals back and dug her kunai into the animals back and ran, silver liquid squirted from the animals back as it slumped down and started to turn into dust. Beautiful powder swirled around her and she landed on the ground with a tap. Her head was down, when she looked up a glare was on her face. Her normally beautiful clear blue eyes were dark with anger.

****

I walked down the Hyuga compound quietly and crossed my arms; Shimo's behavior startled me earlier. I've never seen her act like this before. Was it the weather that was changing her? I doubt it; I tried to think of other ways that could have been the reason why. Should I go talk to her, I didn't know, maybe she was mad at me. Then again it could have been because of Hyoga, of what he said to her. I've never seen him act that way towards her either. Was there something on between them that I didn't know about?

I decided to ignore my feelings and I drifted off in my own thoughts and feelings.

I didn't even get to think about one because I bumped into someone. Of course that person had to be Neji.

"Kori, just the person who I was looking for," he says as he looks at me. I look down at his chest just so that I wouldn't stare at his eyes. "I need to talk to you about something."

I nod, "What is there that you need to ask?"

"Just a few questions that I've been curious about."

He walks past me and beckons me to follow him; I do so and walk next to him, feeling the warmth that was radiating off him body onto mine. I closed my eyes and took my time to enjoy it. It could one of the only times I could be able to feel this way.

****

We went back to the Hokage's faces and we both sat down. It was rather slippery because it rained a little bit earlier.

"You do not mind me asking questions do you?" he asked first.

"No," I responded quietly. I was calmer than usual.

"How did you create that beast? It turned into dust after you did a simple hand sign."

"Our technology in the Snow is more advanced than it is here in Konoha. We spend most of our time learning wisdom instead of brute force. I created it by combining a mixture of a few chemicals and mixing a few chakras. It's not that difficult when you get used to it and use it so much. We only use one drop so that it is able to create a shape out of the liquid, the liquid spreads and multiples cells so that it will become bigger. While it solidifies it creates blood and then the organs come and it becomes a beast. When I kill it or make it disappear then the blood, organs, and body secede and it become's dust."

I look over at him; his eyes were wider than normal. "It's a rather simple solution actually if you think about it.

"The technology _must_ be advanced in the Snow, I've never heard of such a way."

"Anything is possible if you set your mind to something." I say as I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them, "I've tried to learn that over the years."

He looked at me; the silence was awkward so he asked another question, "What style of fighting do you do?"

I looked over at him, his gaze capturing me instantly.

"I dance."

He looked at me questionably, "Dance? You're fighting style is dancing?" He was humorous.

I looked at him, my lip curved only on one side: a smirk. "Fight me."

He looked a little dazed, "You want me to fight you?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Why not?"

His lip curved upward too, "Alright then."

****

"If you want me to stop, just ask," his voice was more of a taunt than it was concern.

"Now why would I do that?" I taunt back, "You're the one who's going to be asking."

His eyes held fire in them; he was determined to beat me as I was to him. This determination in me was something different from what I normally felt—it felt exhilarating. As I looked at him my stance changed; I twirled once and one of my hands was in front of me and the other behind me.

_One…_

The corners of my mouth raised a smirk.

"Alright then, let's begin this."

My speed caught him off guard. I didn't disappear from his sight, but he definitely didn't expect me to appear in front of his face in less than a few seconds. I brought one of my legs behind his and pushed him back. He lost his balance and started falling back. His free leg started to balance him but I bent down and spun in a 360 degree angle with my leg outstretched. He fell to the ground as I quickly did a few back flips away from him for distance.

He looked at me, a little surprised that I was so quick with my movements. He got up quickly and made a stance of his own, similar to mine. He put his left hand in front while his right hand was in front. He had two fingers up while the others folded down on each of them. I looked closely, his stance was superb. I have never seen such a stance before, it was flawless. It was the stance of the Crane I believe. I spun once while my hair encircled my body before and jumped towards him, my hands making a few hand signs before a reached him.

"Fuyu no Mai," I whisper. My hands begin to glow a light blue color, almost white, and then start spinning.

Snowflakes start falling and the sky blackens, the temperature drops quickly. Neji looks at me, stunned for words, I could control the weather. More importantly, he was surprised that I could even produce more than two elements: water _and_ wind—ice.

"Dance of Winter!" I yell as I start running at him, the snowflakes around my body start swirling faster and faster until I can't be seen. Everything in front of him is a white blur. It was beautiful yes, but it was as equally deadly. He had no choice but to use it against me.

He closed his eyes and the veins around his eyes pop out. He re-opens them; his beautiful clear white lilac eyes become heavy with pressure and power.

"Byakugan!"

I stare, the pressure from his eyes were intensifying. I hadn't seen something so powerful in such a long time. My determination does not fall though as I continue to run at him. His stance changes only the slightest bit as he suddenly starts turning rapidly and he is surrounded by his chakra.

I try attacking him, but it was no use. I could not. His chakra was a barrier from me to him and I knew that I couldn't get through.

But what I didn't expect were the effects from it. My attack was thrown back against me two times harder. I was thrown back against one of the cylinders and I arched my back so that the impact wouldn't be that bad. If I didn't, I was sure that I would probably be paralyzed for a few minutes.

I leaned over on her knees and hands and coughed a few times. I hadn't experienced one of these types of fights in such a long time. My excitement raised a few notches. I slowly opened my eyes, I could see Neji running up to me; I smirked.

I rose quickly, which he wasn't expecting. My right leg pushed forward while my other leg pulled back.

_Two…_

I spun while my right leg dug into the snow, creating a design a circle. I stood in the middle of it after my design was done and I quickly started doing some hand signs. After I was done, I lowered my hands to my sides while my hands were perpendicular with the ground. I raised my hands and the snow that was falling began to slow, in only seconds, they started to rise.

Neji looked stunned, his eyes widened.

_What kind of technique is this? What kind of power does this girl have?_

I stopped when my body made a T.

_Three…_

I stomped my right foot on the ground and all of the snow on the ground rose and started heading for Neji. He backed up, but his eyes widened even more when he saw what the snowflakes were doing from my command.

Both of my hands clenched into fists and I watched the snow compress together in a sharp point at the end, like an arrow head. I spun again and all of the snow arrows started heading towards him. He started spinning again and his chakra came out in a circular shape again. The arrows did not blow away though—they kept digging into his chakra. And ever so slowly, his chakra began to go away. I raised the arrows with the movement of my hands and the arrows rose and then began to strike him again. He didn't have enough chakra to do his move again; he just stared as he thought that he would meet death.

But it never came for him, he fell to the ground and put his arm up—a futile attempt to guard himself from my attack. The only thing the ice arrows did was fall to the ground and begins to melt. The dark sky began to clear up again, and the temperature started to rise.

I walk over to him and kneel by his side. He doesn't get up—he only looks at me. His face looked amazed at my strength. I only smirked at him and held out my hand for him to grab. He was startled at first, my powerful self and then going to a gentle one.

He didn't question himself any further though, he placed his hand in mine and I helped him up. He didn't say anything, but he looked at our hands held together and rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand. He sighed and then he started to walk away.

I was confused, did I do something wrong? I didn't think that I did anything wrong. I was about to question him, but it was too late. He had already walked around the corner and was gone.


	5. Chapter 5: Curiosity

Chapter 5 – Curiosity

"Hey, what do you think that Shimo's up to right now? She's been acting quite strange as of lately. It's oddly peculiar," Hyoga says.

We were walking down the streets of Konoha and we didn't exactly like the attention that we were getting. The people from Konoha had never seen people like us. To them, we were aliens, beautiful aliens. Our flawless white skin, strange clear light eyes, long white hair, we were beautiful in their minds. What did we think?

_Perfect_.

I looked over at Hyoga; I knew what he was thinking. I could just imagine it now in his mind.

They were our pray. They were the ones that we killed. They were the ones that that would be easily lured into pleasurable temptation. Then at the perfect moment we would strike. He could picture it now—he could see himself walking over to a woman over by the ramen shop and casually start a conversation with her. He could easily place his hand on her shoulder and move it towards the back of her neck and secretly slip out a senbons and pierce it through her neck and just leave. He would look like he didn't even do anything but caress the back of her neck. His hand twitched with anticipation and his eyes became more cat like, the single black slit in the eye. His pace quickened—

I nudged his arm and he muttered a silent apology. We weren't here to start a war. We were simply here to show how strong that we were to these people…without trying to kill them…if that made any sense…

I looked over at Hyoga; his eyes were down with shame. I knew that he didn't really mean to think of the people that way, it was just our nature. They were meant to be killed sooner or later anyways—

I stopped that thought, that wasn't what we were here for, I could possibly think of the people that were so generous to us that way, it wasn't fair to them. We couldn't help if they were weak—

I felt so idiotic at the moment right now. I couldn't stop feeling this way for these people… Why couldn't I think of them like normal people? Normal people who were so generous… I couldn't possibly think of them as anything less than my equal.

"Hyoga, we should probably head back to the residence. Don't you think?" I asked him, I wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible. I didn't want to think the same things that Hyoga was right now.

He turned to me and shrugged, "I suppose."

I nodded in agreement to him.

****

If you had one thing in the world in which you cared so much about in your hands, but it felt as if it was a piece of silk that would fall out any minute, you would know what I was going through.

I hated the fact that I couldn't say something to Neji, about anything. I would either become flustered or embarrassed and I would probably end up hurting myself in some way. And he was always the person that would help me. I wasn't meaning to do it either; I suppose it was just a natural reaction from his own being. He was so…oh I couldn't describe him though words! It was so bewildering.

I bit my bottom lip in frustration. I tried to sort through the thoughts in my head, but I found that it was rather impossible. It was like trying to put a puzzle together when you didn't have all the pieces. My head was like a puzzle. If I didn't have all of the pieces, I couldn't get my thoughts straight.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I stopped and turned around quickly, and my eyes widened in surprise to see who was there. It was Neji.

"Neji?" I said quickly in excitement. I hoped that I didn't give away my desperation through my voice. I didn't think I was desperate over him…just…over…I couldn't think of anything else.

He sat down quietly with his eyes closed and he placed his hands on his knees. I stared confusingly at him, my face showing innocence, another lure. He sighed quietly and opened his eyes; he looked at me with the strangest expression. I couldn't tell what it was. His eyebrows were furrowed, his face came closer and mine backed up. I couldn't tell what he was doing. He had a frown, and it was hard to look at him as an unhappy person. I didn't like seeing people sad…it made me sad.

"Could I ask you a question?" he asked suddenly.

I was caught off guard by the question and I nodded slightly, unaware of what I was doing.

"Could you tell me a little more about your country?"

I pondered the question in my head for a moment before I realized what he had said.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked.

"Because, since we're going to be going there, it would be nice to know what some of the dangers there are. So we can all take precautions."

He said it with such elegance, I pondered on how a human could be this beautiful. I shook my head to myself mentally.

"I suppose… I don't think that it could hurt." I said to him as I lightly smiled. His smile in return was natural bliss. I filled up with a natural happiness that couldn't be shared anywhere else. "What did you want to know?"

"What kind of things there will we expect? What kinds of shinobi are there?" Neji asks.

"Well," I started, "It depends on what shinobi you look at. There are all kinds. Normally, Snow shinobi are on the stronger side. We in the snow have trained harder than any other country and we try to withstand different types of terrains as well. For example, we could be trapped within a desert with no food or water for weeks. But, we would find a way. For example, some of us can feel movement through our feet, vibrations, and we could find an animal underneath us and for desperate times we could drain the water out of the animal and use it for our own. It's a cruel thing to do but it works.

"The shinobi technically can all do some type of snow based element. We can combine wind and water to create snow based attacks. It's a difficult technique to use but we have trained up to the point where it becomes second nature to us. They also can have different types of technology there. In the past we have created machine to make us even fly. It just depends on how much chakra the shinobi has and how much endurance and strength they have. But the kin of our kind is usually strong."

Neji looked impressed. He didn't know such things could possibly exist. Machines that could make you fly? Impossible!

"When we were fighting, you were dancing…Is there a reason as to why you do that instead of normal fighting taijutsu style?" he asked.

This question was something curved my lip up the slightest. "My style…"

A question like this was special to me. No one had ever asked about the way that I fought before. And now that I realized it, I enjoyed the feeling of knowing something as elegant and graceful as my dancing.

"Dance is…" I started out, I thought about what I was going to say, "It's a way to express myself in my own way without words. It's almost like music, except you use your body as the notes and such. I use my dance moves as a way of meditation through battle. It's like…a certain way that I can concentrate without being interrupted by anything. It's something that I rather enjoy doing than something as harsh as regular taijutsu."

"Are you saying that you don't like to fight?" Neji asked suddenly. He was intrigued.

"Truthfully…no. But I know that I can take out someone with a certain degree of elegance and grace. It seems to me as if it is a softer way of…I guess defeating the opponent. It doesn't make me feel _as_ bad as I would if I were using regular taijutsu."

"I see; it is reasonable for saying such a thing. I guess that I didn't think that there was any other way of defeating someone by gentle force. Even with my gentle fist, the way that we use it might not look harmful but it does so much more damage than regular taijutsu."

"Yes, in a way it is sort of like that. My attacks do cause good amounts of damage, but in a way, it looks…the sight of it doesn't look as bad I suppose. People would rather believe what they see instead of what a person will actually tell them until they actually endure it."

"That's…fascinating. I never knew another person out of my family who had a fighting style with such grace and sophistication." Neji says as he leans over to me and smiles. He places his hand on my shoulder and rubs it softly. I guessed that it was only a friendly gesture. We…were just friends I assumed. Not even that. He was just a protector of mine; I didn't want to think of him that way. I didn't want to think that I was in a higher position than him, it felt wrong.

"I guess that we in the Snow have weird ways of fighting." I said as I chuckled to myself. I turned away from him and stared at the ground. I touched my snow white skin with my fingertips on the back of my hand. My skin was cold.

"I wouldn't call it weird, I would say unique." Neji says as he scoots closer to me. He bows his head so that he would be able to see my face. My blue hair covered my face and casted a veil between the two of us.

"Unique is just another word for weird." I say. I knew that he was trying his best to make me feel better for unusual styles.

"It depends, what do you think unique means?" he asks with a certain tone in his voice. It was like he wanted me to figure out what he was thinking.

"Strange, abnormal, different, what else is there?" I mumble.

"I think that it's a beautiful thing." He says quietly, he whispers it into my ear. His hot breath tickled my nerves and sent a current through my body. His voice was intoxicating, and to have his lips so close to me was ecstatic.

"Why…why do you say that?" I stutter as I force out my words.

"Being unique means that you're different from others. Why would you want to be the same as another? It means that you have your own personality, your own way of thinking, and you put it into your own style. For example—your dancing. Someone like me would have never thought of doing something like that. I would have pushed the very thought aside and done what a traditional shinobi would have done and gone with something that everyone else does." He looks at me a little closer and lifts my chin. "Are you afraid of being different?"

I gulp, "Yes…"

"Why?" he asks, his voice was luring.

"I'm afraid that I would be looked upon as someone…as if they had dishonored their clan or…broke the law or something along those lines."

"Are you saying that you do not enjoy being a shinobi?" he asks. He didn't know if he was going onto a touchy subject. "Because without courage, it does not bring strength," as he looks at me with sentimental eyes he lifts up my chin with his hand. "But without fear, there could not be courage. Courage is what makes dreams into reality. It brings curiosity; hope and joy…even love."

I look at him, not turning away now. The feelings that were building up inside me were about to explode. Every nerve in my body was hay wire and I couldn't seem to stop staring.

"But then why I am so afraid? I don't feel like I have any courage right now…" I mumbled the last part a little. I didn't want him to know that I was completely going insane with him next to me like this. Why was he doing this to me?

"As I said, fear brings courage, and courage brings strength. You're strong Kori, far stronger than anyone I've ever met. Maybe…you just haven't really realized your potential yet."

I look down and fold my hands on my lap and try to stop myself from trembling. I sigh and keep looking down. "Maybe it's that…I just haven't found my true strength."

"Maybe…" he whispers, "Maybe you should be a little bit more curious with yourself."

I turn to him, "What do you mean?"

"Aren't you curious as to find out how much strength you have? And true strength at that. Have you really found the source of your strength? An acquaintance of mine used to find his strength in anger and rage. That's what drove him to fight, so that he would get stronger. What's yours?"

I turned my head only slightly and looked up at the sky. The pale moon's luster was beautiful as its rays cast ribbons of beautiful light onto the ground.

"I suppose…I don't have one…" I said after I thought about it. I never really had a certain emotion that really drove me. "I never really thought of it that way."

"Some people take their emotions and put it into the fight. As dangerous as that may be, it can work either way. It can win you a fight with soaring colors, or it could make you die painfully."

I looked at him with wide eyes; he turned his head and cursed to himself mentally.

"I'm sorry-

"No…" I interrupted. "It's okay. I wouldn't have thought of any of this, this way. I would have just thought that your strength came from how much you really trained and how hard you worked at it."

"I suppose," Neji said still cursing himself, "It's just a thought. Emotions play a very large role in life, and sometimes the most pleasant can be the most dangerous."

"What do you mean? I don't understand." I said as I looked at him in a peculiar way.

"Curiosity can lead to death easily. One might want to know what something is, and get so caught up into that they lose their focus and leave themselves wide open."

"…What about love?" I asked slowly. I didn't want him to catch onto my feelings. I wanted it to be discreet and unnoticeable.

"It's the worst of all. So many people lose their lives just because they care about another. The person that they care about could be kidnapped, and used for a bargain from the other person. Yet in the end the bad guy will always get his way, unless the good guy is a heartless failure."

I stared, all of this information was never taught to us in the Snow. Was it because that we weren't really allowed to show _that_ much emotion without getting in trouble. We were never taught how to love…and I had discovered it all on my own. I felt somehow accomplished. Yet at the same time I felt horrible because the fact that I felt feelings for another was despicable. Shinobi must never love…but then why was this so irresistible?

"May I…try something?" Neji suddenly asked.

I looked at him strangely, a little bit of my kid side showing. My eyes had gotten a little wider, but I wasn't sure if it was because of my innocent face. In the end I nodded though.

Neji moved closer, and I suddenly backed up and took out a weapon. I held it up in front of my in front of my face and closed my eyes.

"Kori, I won't hurt you…" Neji says as he places his hands on mine and lowers my hand to the ground. I heard the metal clink on the ground as it clattered. My hands began to tremble again as he moved a little closer than normal. One of his hands slowly laced with mine, his hands were so warm…

I was confused, what was he doing? My heart rate suddenly increased so much that I could have had a heart attack. My breathing became more noticeable as he touched my skin lightly with his hands. He looked into my eyes softly, his lilac eyes so peaceful. They calmed me down the slightest bit, and I knew that my heart rate was slowly beginning to slow down.

His other hand came up to my neck, his soft fingertips caressing me gently. His lips came closer to mine and I was about to have a panic attack. My whole body had suddenly become warm with excitement, and my heart was beating faster again. My breathing was coming out faster and faster, it was like I wasn't even breathing at all.

He grimaced to himself and suddenly pulled away. He was up in an instant and he was walking away. His hands were clenched so hard that his knuckles had turned white. He was muttering curses to himself again over and over down the hallway. I watched him as his steps carried him away from me.

I could breathe again, but it felt strange. It was as if I wanted that sudden feeling of excitement fill me again. What was that? I could call it adrenaline, but…it was so different from the normal adrenaline I had. It was something so much more; it was on a much higher scale.

I could feel my limbs again and I began to stand up, I wobbled a little bit, but I managed to keep standing. My stomach still had the feeling of butterflies that I had just begun to realize was there the whole time. The knot in my throat was untangling and I tried to mutter something to myself. But the way that Neji had spoken and acted just now…he left me speechless.

I began to walk the other way, to my room. It wasn't that long before I reached my destination and slid open the door. I tumbled over to my bed, but before I reached there I tripped on nothing. I feel to my knees but my arms reached out and they supported me as they caught my bed sheets.

I took in the most amounts of air that I could to begin my respiration again. I climbed into my bed and didn't even bother covering myself, my body was still hot. I dug my face into my pillow and sighed, trying to calm myself down.

Neji was right on the things that he had told me, emotions were dangerous. Especially love.


End file.
